The Nature of Nejireme
by ancientforever
Summary: The Sakura Clan in the north is weak, and looking to extend its power by taking Mt Nejireme - the home of Gyuki Clan, the formidable warriors. Kaede Sakura, heir to her mother's clan and a servant of the first Gyuki, must learn how to deal with her past.
1. Prologue: Weeping Blood

AN: this is my first fanfiction, ever. Hope you like it, but I'm still getting in the whole "groove" of writing this kind of thing. Pardon any spelling or grammar errors, that's just me being a little tired out and typing in the dark.

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People fear yokai. To humans, they are far less innocent than the things that go bump in the night; they are malicious tricksters and cold-blooded murderers. They sneak up on lost humans and eat them, enslave them, or make them simply disappear. Most yokai live for tricking humans, even killing them, and the humans have a problem with this – understandably.

But what the unknowledgeable don't recognize is the concept of the clans. One yokai clan rules over many smaller and weaker clans, but their reach is not indefinite, and all look to strengthen and expand. Some even aim for areas inside the territory of other clans.

In that case, Mt Nejireme was not a popular spot, except for ghost hunters. It had a wonderful forest, though few walked through it even now for fear of the yokai that lived there. All for the best of the Gyuki Clan, though the formidable warriors' security was a little lax. Their great fault was pride in themselves, for the most part.

Gyuki Clan, one of the most feared warrior yokai clans, protected Mt Nejireme for the Nura Clan, their superior uniting clan. It was only for Nura Clan that the warriors had any contact with others outside of killing them, and in return they protected Nura's western border of the mountain, which was prime wishful thinking of other yokai clans who wished to capture a piece of Nura's territory.

_Some kind of protection,_ thought a young yokai woman as she walked up the stairs on the mountain's side. She was here centuries after her family's detachment from the area to survey the land and see how easy it would be to take the mountain. So far, all news was good.

Perhaps she, like others that had walked a similar path, relaxed too much. She only noticed after she trudged off the stairs toward the shrine of Umewakamaru the footsteps that followed her. Dropping her shoulder bag and her human disguise that had gotten her through the human settlement at Nejireme's feet, her feet traced a semicircle in the soft earth that called out to her as she turned, a little too slowly, to face the person behind her.

She could only think that she should have taken more time with the disguise, which carried many memories for her, before she was dead.

The earth wept blood.


	2. Chapter 1: Cherry Blossom Hell

AN: this might be a little choppy and out of sync, but I'm still working on the whole flow. I don't type things up the best when I'm sick. And yes, I am aware of Rikuo's Ougi. Comments and criticism?

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The Sakura Clan was one of the smallest clans that were still independent. Being so weak in themselves, though the family members individually were strong, they were looking to expand. As a clan of earth yokai, it made perfect sense to their matriarch to be looking at Mt Nejireme as a possible expansion point, even if they did hardly have a connection to it. Connections didn't matter; power did.

What was worrying, though, was that the first person sent to survey the land had not returned – nor had the second. As a result, Lady Sakura was pushed into the decision of sending her eldest daughter. She had been a fool to rely on her younger daughters, but the fact remained that she loathed the idea of exposing her heir to danger. Tamiko was a water sprite by her father's blood, and Nariko was naive. Kaede, on the other hand, knew the prospective land. To tell the truth, it was simply a mother's selfishness that kept her at home.

She also hadn't been told any of this yet. Lady Sakura was delaying in talking to her eldest, for fear of many things. First and foremost, a clan leader's fear of the line of succession ending – quickly followed by her own fear of her daughter's death. That was, of course, overshadowed by the prospect of an inner war tearing the already diminutive clan apart in the fight for leading it.

The matriarch sat outside under one of the living cherry trees, watching the sky darken. It was a good habit to have, watching the world pass you by as the yokai went out to play. Very few people approached her, and none of them were the right person to begin with.

She smiled, remembering that this was the way she'd met her first husband. The lady was fond of her first husband, who had died a few centuries back, leaving that part of her life empty. Back then, though, she'd just been sitting under a cherry tree, waiting for her father to return with dinner. While they had always loved to eat outside, sometimes it brought unexpected consequences.

It seemed that twilight was the wonderful hour, though, since it was at twilight that Kaede Sakura sat next to her mother, as her father had in ages past. She seemed a little worried, but that might have just been the effect of the transition between night and day.

"What are you thinking?" the clan leader asked without hesitation, as she always did when they came out here.

"Nothing, Mother," the daughter lied, twisting a strand of deep red hair around her finger, the fading gold at the tips catching her eye. "You weren't in your room. It's almost autumn."

Lady Sakura nodded, processing the information. Autumn, the age of death and sleep, would be upon them in a few weeks' time. That was worrying for any earth spirit. But if she wanted to advance anything, she would have to claim Mt Nejireme before winter.

"Kaede, I have something to ask of you. Do you remember your time on Nejireme, following Gyuki?"

"Of course." Her voice suddenly flattened out and she looked away from her mother; this wasn't her favourite topic. The events had all been centuries ago, but the earth remembered easily how much blood had been spilt by the terrible Gyuki. He had lured travellers to his mountain and killed them, and while in that time there had been no true Gyuki Clan, she had been one of the yokai that survived on the mountain as his servants.

"Then you remember Umewakamaru, the boy-demon, correct?" To tell the truth, the trusted clan leader was stalling for time, trying to figure out how to ask her daughter to take up an unthinkable journey.

"The one who tried to murder us all? Yes, him too." Kaede sat back against the tree and looked down at the ground, picking a blade of grass and splitting it with her fingernails. She had been one of the lucky few yokai who had heard of Gyuki's death and fled before the bloodthirsty boy once known as Umewakamaru could exact his vengeance on them.

"I…" Lady Sakura sighed. "I am asking a horrible thing of you. Please, my daughter – now my only daughter – go to that horrid mountain and claim it for our clan, so we may expand in power and land." It was somewhere between a motherly request and a formal order, and it made the point quite obvious that refusal wasn't a choice.

"I'll leave when the sun goes down tomorrow," she said in her own formal way. "Tell Chiru not to bother with my food for the rest of the week." The young woman stood, sure that she was about to die. She wouldn't try to speak against it, though; you didn't speak against what Lady Sakura said, especially when she was your lady and your mother.

No, when your mother told you to go somewhere, you left as soon as possible, despite any bad memories that might rise from the ashes upon hearing the name. Especially when the journey could determine what you would end up ruling when you became clan leader. She kept that in mind as she headed for her room.

Lady Sakura wasn't fooling anyone. They all knew she was growing older and weaker, relying more and more on her daughters and underlings. She was twice the age of her eldest daughter, and her power was pale next to Kaede's force when the latter wished to make an impression. Most were entirely in favour of the eldest Sakura daughter succeeding their leader, and looked forward to the day she would lead them – as such, it was very difficult for the lady to send her away. They would blame her if Kaede died and the clan fell apart, and it would be her fault in everyone's mind.

She watched her future walk away as the stars opened their petals far above her.


End file.
